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Rain poured in through the shattered glass window. Staring at dozens of gun muzzles, Ja-kyung was at a loss for words. One wrong move and he'd be turned into a honeycomb. Beside him, Kang Il-hyun also had a hardened expression unlike his usual self. Two armed men approached the car, then stood on either side aiming their guns.
When Ja-kyung tried to get out, Il-hyun grabbed his arm first.
"Wait here."
Ja-kyung bit his lip.
"But...!"
He repeated his words.
"Don't come out until I give you permission."
At his resolute expression, Ja-kyung had no choice but to agree.
Il-hyun opened the car door and stepped out, then looked back. The men who had chased them from the movie theater stood guarding the chairman. He turned his body and walked slowly toward where Chairman Kang was standing. As he walked, rain poured over his head and face. Chairman Kang dropped the cigar he'd been smoking onto the ground and greeted his son with a cold face like a cold-blooded man.
"Seems I've interrupted a good time."
His mouth was smiling, but Il-hyun's eyes were walking on thin ice.
"If you knew that, you should have come later."
"This seems like it will be a long conversation. Should we move somewhere else?"
Il-hyun looked back once. He could see Lee Ja-kyung glaring at this place from inside the broken car. He clenched his molars until his jaw went rigid, then looked at Chairman Kang.
"Please let the other one go."
"Why."
"Please let him go. I'm asking you."
Anyway, if dragged away like this, there were only two outcomes. Either death, or spending the rest of his life lying down as a cripple. He didn't think Chairman Kang would have brought this many men without that level of resolve. He thought they'd be too scared to move recklessly, but that was a mistake. The fox-like old man had simply waited until his son showed an opening.
"That one's also part of your gang, isn't he."
"That's why I said I'm asking you."
Chairman Kang's wrinkled eyes narrowed and a strange smile formed at the corner of his mouth.
"I wonder. Will he want to go?"
"I'll talk to him."
Silence flowed between the two. The rain that had been pouring so heavily it obscured vision had gradually thinned. The tension flowing tautly made it feel as if even the surrounding temperature had dropped. Il-hyun calmly waited for Chairman Kang's permission.
That brief moment felt particularly long. Only after seeing his head nod did he turn his body. He strode to the driver's seat and faced Lee Ja-kyung. With a tense face, his eyes revealed various emotions. If it wasn't his imagination, there was some affection mixed in there too.
Today had been truly long. He received an unexpected confession in the morning, after that went to the neighborhood where Lee Ja-kyung used to live, had an ordinary date like other people.
It wasn't a bad day for a gift before dying.
He looked at his eyes tenderly and reached out to stroke his cheek. Ja-kyung didn't even twitch and just glared at Il-hyun. As if guessing what he was about to say.
"We have to part ways here."
The area under Ja-kyung's eyes trembled.
"Go and wait. After I finish talking with my father, I'll come back."
"No."
"I'll be back soon."
"I clearly said no."
He guessed persuading him wouldn't be easy, but he was more stubborn than expected. Not only were his lips stubbornly shut, but he even pulled the door handle trying to get out of the car. Il-hyun forced the door shut and this time spoke more firmly.
"Please."
Ja-kyung gritted his teeth. Since he read anxiety in Kang Il-hyun's eyes for the first time, he couldn't say anything. You, why. Why make that face. Just smile like usual. Even make a joke.
Others might think 'surely a father wouldn't kill his own son,' but Chairman Kang already had a record. The person ordered to be killed was himself, and he knew better than anyone that being dragged away like this meant a pointless death.
The hand that had been touching his face now stroked his hair.
"Take care."
After saying a short goodbye with a smile, he turned and went to Chairman Kang. A man named Manager Kim scanned his body using a detector. After finding a watch with a tracking device embedded and making him remove it, he threw it on the ground and fired several shots.
In the darkness, a flash of light burst and the watch was shattered. Even while his wrists were being tied behind his back using a cord, he was unusually docile unlike his normal self. Ja-kyung, who had been sitting in the driver's seat glaring, suddenly thought of something. While the man guarding beside him was distracted, he opened the dashboard and took out an old mobile phone.
He hid his hand under the steering wheel, pried it open, removed a small chip, then skillfully put it in his mouth. Gulp. He swallowed it with saliva, but the small fragment got stuck in his throat and wouldn't go down easily. Then he carefully called out to the man guarding beside the car.
Hey. The man who was two steps away approached. When he whispered so he couldn't be heard, his face came closer. In an instant, he grabbed his head and slammed it against the window, then immediately got out and seized the weapon. At the sudden commotion, guns and flashlights all turned toward Ja-kyung at once. He could feel the blood draining from Kang Il-hyun's face as he turned around.
Ja-kyung stood fully exposed to the falling rain and pointed the gun muzzle squarely at Chairman Kang.
"You can't go!"
The shout echoed through the empty road.
"Either take me too. Or we die together here!"
The moment Il-hyun tried to come toward Ja-kyung with an angry face, a subordinate behind Chairman Kang received an order and struck his head with a rifle butt. Thud, with the sound, Kang Il-hyun collapsed to the ground. Ugh, as he groaned and tried to stand, Chairman Kang pressed down on his back with his cane. The blood flowing from his head mixed with the rain and dyed the road red.
Ja-kyung ground his teeth watching that scene. His finger on the trigger twitched. Chairman Kang smiled like a demon. It was a appearance that looked like yet unlike Kang Il-hyun.
"If you really want that, I'll take you along."
The moment his order fell, subordinates surrounded Ja-kyung. When he obediently lowered the gun, they tied his arms behind his back and put something over his head. His vision became complete darkness. And soon after, a dull blow to his head followed.
His legs lost strength and his consciousness faded. Was this the right thing to do? Was this really the right thing? No matter how much he thought, he couldn't find the answer. But he couldn't just let Kang Il-hyun die alone like this.
***
Wang Lun, sitting in the back seat looking out the window, felt gloomy thinking about his lover who had betrayed him and left. No matter how he came to a good place and saw good sights, the wound in his heart wouldn't easily heal. Moreover, Wang Han sitting next to him had been fidgeting with his phone the entire time moving to the lodging, caring nothing for the scenery.
"Something seems strange."
Wang Lun asked with an indifferent face.
"What is."
"I think something happened to Wei."
At those words, Wang Lun let out a low sigh. If something happened, his ass must be completely ruined, or his waist broken. With Kang Il-hyun's subordinates in front, he couldn't say those words. Not only that, another security vehicle was following behind. Seeing they even brought a doctor along for the long trip, he seemed to be completely smitten with Lee Ja-kyung.
"By now those two are probably having a good time together."
"Is that so."
"Brother, that's your problem. Do you think he's still ten years old?"
"Well..."
"There's no regard for this second one nursing a wounded heart."
As he indirectly revealed his resentment, Wang Han smiled awkwardly. It wasn't that he favored one, but he couldn't help being more concerned about Ja-kyung. The age gap was large, and perhaps because he'd cared for him like a child since he was young.
Still, something felt strange.
"He's never not answered his phone this long..."
Just then, a call came in to the subordinate sitting in the front seat. The caller seemed to be someone senior, as his tone was very respectful. He immediately passed the phone to the back. After learning the caller was Manager Park, Wang Han felt relieved. But the more they talked, the more serious his expression became.
After hanging up, his face had turned pale.
"What's wrong."
"Wei... he's been kidnapped."
"Who did Wei kidnap?"
"That's not it! He was kidnapped!"
"Don't joke around."
"It's real. They said Kang Il-hyun's father took him."
Fuck! Wang Lun, who had been sitting listlessly, shot up and hit his head on the car ceiling. Lee Ja-kyung would kidnap someone, sure, but he wasn't someone who gets kidnapped. If that happened, it meant he was in real danger. Before the employee sitting in front could even ask what they were going to do, the two urgently told him to turn the car around quickly.
The employee who finished talking with Park Tae-soo turned the car around, and Wang Han attempted to contact Ja-kyung again. Only the message that it was turned off kept appearing. Just in case, there was a small tracking device attached to his work phone. He'd made it swallowable in preparation for emergencies, but the problem was he had to enter Korea to check it.
Please be safe. Until we get there, please.
***
It was pitch black. He regained consciousness but saw only darkness before his eyes. With each breath, the damp cloth stuck to his face and fell away. He tried to move his hands but they were tied behind him and he couldn't move at all. Then someone removed the cloth covering his head. Bright light poured into his vision.
Breathing roughly, he surveyed his surroundings. An unfamiliar place. Unfamiliar people. It was definitely inside a building, but whether left unfinished, one side was completely open.
There were two men in front, and they looked at Ja-kyung with strange eyes while snickering among themselves. One of them made a gesture of grabbing his crotch while moving his hips, and the man smoking a cigarette in front kept laughing as if something was amusing.
Knowing they were mocking him, Ja-kyung gritted his teeth.
"Where is Kang Il-hyun."
One of the men approached and flicked the cigarette he'd been smoking at Ja-kyung's face.
"Cocky bastard. Is Chairman Kang your friend?"
"I'm asking where he is, you sons of bitches!"
The man came right up to his face and moved his hand toward his belt buckle, sneering.
"Wanna try sucking it? If you do it well, I might tell you."